Saturday, February 26, 2005

Interesting ArticlesThe New York Times has another one of their lengthy "Listening to CD's With" articles posted, this time Ben Ratliff listens with guitarist Pat Metheny:

My proposal was that we listen together to a few pieces of music (not his) that affected him strongly. It could be any music: the point wasn't desert-island endorsements or a strict autobiography of influence; it was to talk about how music works. I had defined "a few" as three, or even one long piece, like a whole record. But Mr. Metheny took the challenge seriously.

Francis Davis has an interesting article about a couple of new releases on the Cuneiform Label that has actually raised some hackles on the Organissimo foum in a thread called "Francis Davis on Don & Miles, Still A Dipshit After All These Years." I have to say that I think that the thread starter is a little over the top with his rant, I have always found Davis' criticism to be pretty well researched and even-handed.

Whereas Upriver, the third double CD by Yo Miles!, the ad hoc jam band led by Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith, reversions (reverts to?) post-Bitches Brew Miles Davis, Pork Chop Blue Around the Rind, the debut CD by Gary Lucas and Phillip Johnston's Fast 'n' Bulbous, treats Captain Beefheart to boisterous, full-scale version-a-ning, raising a curious point about tribute albums in the process—you can enjoy the better ones without being all that keen on the honoree.